This aerial view shows the devastation in the Ortley Beach section of Toms River after Hurricane Sandy. Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

ORTLEY BEACH — Nearly seven months after Hurricane Sandy, one of the Jersey Shore communities hit hardest by the Oct. 29 storm started demolishing weather-beaten homes this weekend through a federally backed program.

“Our residents are eager to start the rebuilding process,” Toms River Mayor Tom Kelaher said in a statement, noting that in the township Sandy damaged more than 6,500 homes on the barrier island and nearly 4,000 homes on the mainland. “ Most of the homes had some form of flooding, but a lot of the dwellings will need to be knocked down because of structural problems."

Crews started tearing down homes in the Ortley Beach section of the township on Saturday, beginning with residences on Seagull Lane, Beier Avenue and Nichols Avenue. The homes are being removed under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Private Property Debris Removal Program.

“It’s a little overwhelming, and very sad,” Nancy Coolbaugh, a 59-year-old Branchburg resident told the Asbury Park Press as she watched her family’s Beier Avenue summer home torn down. “Almost everything that meant something to me is gone.”

Township Administrator Paul J. Shives told the newspaper that FEMA has so far approved the demolition of 157 buildings through the program.